Suburban Front end leveling kit
 

Anybody have any experience with these reindexing cams for the torsion bars to raise/or level the front end 1.5"-2", some say you need longer shocks or an extended shock mount , others say the stock length shock will work.

My plan is to raise the front 2" with the cams and add 3/4" coil spacers to the rear, then install P285/65/16 tires.

01 Suburban 1500 4X4

I've got a '98 2500 4x4 Suburban that I purchased with the torsion bars cranked up in the front 2" and blocks under the springs in the back.

Since you're not changing the travel limits of the suspension in the front, the stock length shocks should work fine. I replaced my shocks with aftermarket shocks the same length as stock and they work fine.

However, I'm not a fan of this method of raising the front at all. Cranking up the torsion bars puts the suspension a lot closer to your stops for rebound travel. There is so little travel left for rebound that it's hard for the tires to follow the contours of the road. I've frequently found my front end leaving terra firma on less that perfect pavement. It can really get to be exciting when it's on a curve pulling the boat. The extra tongue weight on the rear makes it worse still.

Maybe the 1500 suspension is a bit softer than mine, but one of my winter projects is to lower the front and take the blocks out of the back to get my 'burban back to stock ride height.

I cranked the t-bars in my 06 silverado all the way for about an inch of additional lift(i need another inch to be 100% level).....they are now bottomed out. The proper way to do it is to buy ford f150 t-bar keys(that I have and never used) and swap them for your stock GM keys. The indexing on them is different and allows for cranking the bars for a full two inches w/o bottoming the bars. I would do that and not worry about the rear. My current rolling stock are 18x9 wheels and 286/60/18 nitto terra graplers. Looks amazing with the wider wheel, more offset, big wide tire, and near level look. You might be able to get two inches out of your stock keys...try it until you loose the ability to adjust camber. If you plan on 4wheelin a lot than get longer front shocks. Dont spend money on a "leveling kit" when you can buy the ford keys for $50, and new shocks for whatever. Anything more than 2 or 3 inches in the front and you should get a real lift kit with drop spindles and brackets.

No offense, but the proper keys to use are the 2wd chevy pieces, which are indexed differently than the 4wd's. These are known as "green keys." If you're raising the front end ride height you'd better be aware of the pitman and idler arms stress increase, and consider adding supports. These can be had from Kennedy diesel, as well as other sources. I feel shock extensions are silly, just my opinion, use a shock upgrade like those offered from Bilstein. Don't cut corners on this. Big weight = big responsibilty. Break a steering component and you're in for an E ticket experience.

Ummmm, nope. 2wd trucks have coil springs....thus no key. Green keys are stock on the 1500 4x4....use green keys in the 2500 and it achieves the same results as ford keys in a 1500. If you will re-read my post I said that my stock (aka green) keys only got me 1 inch of lift cranked all the way, and I bought ford keys to get me the rest of the way level. Some 1500 trucks can achieve the level lift with stock keys and some need the ford keys additional indexing. And yes, buy a real lift kit with all the drop and relocation brakets if you want to go past level on the front.

You're right, I jumped the gun. I was thinking 2500 because the suburbans, I thought, were all 3/4's. You win a big honkin steak, and the beverage of your choice, collect it anytime ;-)

I own a tire and suspension shop down here in Fl. and have installed a few sets of the offset keys, they work great and don't have the rough ride that raising the torsion bars do, you can get by with stock shocks but they are fully extended so spend the money and buy longer shocks, and as far as the pitman arm, its not a requirement with only 2" (basically these are leveling kits.) and make sure that you have the frontend re-aligned.

Thanks for all the great info guys :D

Lee after a lot of research I used the Cognito Motorspots kit. Call them they will explain why not to crank the torsion bars out. I would explain but too much to type.

I think the new upper arms are $$$ overkill for just wanting a level stance IMO.....Anything above that, than yes I might worry about ball joint angles. The ford keys are $40 cheaper than the cognito ones, and achieve the same results. Level front end w/o maxing the stock keys. All that leaves is longer shocks. But whatever floats your boat i guess. I have been running stock keys fully cranked and bottomed out (got me about 1" of lift, so not quite level) for about two yrs now and I havent had any issues. I dont four wheel the truck past some minor farm and hunting work.

I love this explanation with the reindexed keys... So here is the million dollar question:

What exactly do you think the reindexed keys do?


Tick tock, tick tock, they crank up the torsion bars. :hitfan:


They do the same exact thing that you do when you crank up the torsions, except without cranking on the adjustment bolts because the adjustment is built into the keys themselves. Either way, the lift you're seeing is a result of running up the torsion bars... :D

I ran my stock keys up to clear 285's on a 16x10" wheel and got tired of the rubbing in the corners, so I put reindexed keys in (GM makes about 5 or so different keys) and ran it like that for another year or so. Then the truck started driving like a school bus. Ended up with a 6" lift and 35's on 20's and it rides better than it ever did stock.

Oh, and this is on a 2500HD with a Dmax. Same basic principles though.

Also, I paid $45 for the keys direct from the dealer. Same stuff the aftermarket places sell for $150 or more and call a leveling kit.

Here is some reading and part numbers for you:

http://www.offroad-tech.com/tech/tb401/

Do a search and spend some time on some of the Chevy forums. Half the places I ended up on with this google search showed me $50 worth of GM keys that they wanted $250+ for... I must be in the wrong business. Then again, I do like to sleep at night. :)